Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies received.

Under the Code of Conduct members are reminded that in declaring interests you should make clear the nature of that interest and whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest, registerable interest or other interest.

There were no interests declared.

There were no questions received.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 9 January 2025

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 January 2025 were considered.

It was moved by Councillor T Saffell, seconded by Councillor K Merrie, and

RESOLVED THAT:

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 January 2025 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings.

The report of the Strategic Director of Resources

Presented by the Corporate Portfolio Holder

The Corporate Portfolio Holder thanked the Infrastructure Portfolio Holder and the Chair for assisting with his portfolio whilst he had been ill. He also advised that the Strategic Director of Resources would be presenting the reports in his portfolio for the meeting.

The Strategic Director of Resources presented the report.

It was moved by Councillor N Rushton, seconded by Councillor K Merrie, and

RESOLVED THAT:

1. The calculation of the Council Tax Base for each parish and special expense area for the Financial Year 2025/2026 be approved, and it be recommended to Council for adoption at its meeting on 20 February 2025.
2. In accordance with the Local Authorities (calculation of council tax base) (England) Regulations 2012, the amount calculated by North West Leicestershire District Council for the financial year 2025/26 shall be 37,532, be noted.
3. Authority be delegated to the S151 Officer to submit the calculations on non-domestic rating income and other amounts required by Government by the 31 January 2025 for the forthcoming financial year.

Reason for decision: Statutory requirement to facilitate the setting of Council Tax for the forthcoming year.

The report of the Strategic Director of Resources

Presented by the Corporate Portfolio Holder

The Strategic Director of Resources presented the report.

Members noted the various pressures on the current budget and the medium-term risks the authority faced when trying to maintain financial sustainability, and they commended the work undertaken by the Finance Team to manage these challenges.

An error was identified in the recommendations, the Section 151 Officer’s advice was set out in section 7 of the report and not the appendix.

It was moved by Councillor N Rushton, seconded by Councillor K Merrie, and, subject to the amendment discussed above,

RESOLVED THAT:

The S151 Officer’s advice set out in section 7 of the report, be noted and the content of this report be carefully considered as part of proposing to Council the General Fund Budget report 2025/26, Housing Revenue Account Budget 2025/26 report and the Capital Strategy and Treasury Management Strategy 2025/26.

Reason for decision: To ensure the Council meets its statutory requirements when considering its budget.

Required as part of the budget setting process for 2025/26 to ensure compliance with the Budget Framework as set out in the Council’s Constitution.

The report of the Strategic Director of Resources

Presented by the Corporate Portfolio Holder

The Strategic Director of Resources presented the report.

The Corporate Portfolio Holder noted the pressures caused by the use of agency staff and pay awards in 2024/25, and that these had been mitigated by Council’s Business Rates Reserve.

It was moved by Councillor N Rushton, seconded by Councillor K Merrie, and

RESOLVED THAT:

1. The attached Council report (appendix A) be endorsed and recommended  to Council for approval at its meeting on 20 February 2025.
2. Authority be delegated to the Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Corporate Portfolio Holder to make amendments to the Council report prior to consideration at Council on 20 February 2025.

Reason for decision: To meet the requirements of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Government

The report of the Strategic Director of Resources

Presented by the Corporate Portfolio Holder

The Strategic Director of Resources presented the report.

The Chair asked about the allocated budget for changes to the food waste collection service. The Strategic Director of Resources advised that the predicted figure was as accurate as it could be, but acknowledged the risk, which was consequently accounted for in the contingency budget.

It was moved by Councillor N Rushton, seconded by Councillor K Merrie, and

RESOLVED THAT:

1. The attached Council report (appendix A) be endorsed and recommended  to Council for approval at its meeting on 20 February 2025.
2. The fees and charges as set out in Appendix 3 of Appendix A be approved.
3. The contribution to a contingency budget as detailed in the General Fund budget summary 2025/26 to 2029/30 (appendix A, appendix 1) be approved, and responsibility be delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Director of Resources (Section 151 Officer) and the relevant Portfolio Holder to spend.
4. Authority be delegated to the Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Corporate Portfolio Holder to make amendments to the Council report prior to consideration at Council on 20 February 2025.

Reason for decision: required as part of the budget setting process for 2025/26 to ensure compliance with the Budget Framework as set out in the Council’s Constitution.

The report of the Strategic Director of Resources

Presented by the Housing, Property and Customer Services Portfolio Holder

The Housing, Property and Customer Services Portfolio Holder presented the report.

The Chair welcomed the recent adjustments to the Right to Buy Policy brought in by central Government.

It was moved by Councillor A Woodman, seconded by Councillor T Gillard, and

RESOLVED THAT:

1. The attached Council report (appendix A) be endorsed and recommended  to Council for approval at its meeting on 20 February 2025.
2. The fees and charges as set out in Appendix 3 of Appendix A be approved.
3. Authority be delegated to the Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Corporate Portfolio Holder to make amendments to the Council report prior to consideration at Council on 20 February 2025.

Reason for decision: Required as part of the budget setting process for 2025/26.

The report of the Strategic Director of Resources

Presented by the Corporate Portfolio Holder

The Corporate Portfolio Holder presented the report.

Several Members welcomed the savings which would be made, and commended the officers for the work involved.

It was moved by Councillor N Rushton, seconded by Councillor K Merrie, and

RESOLVED THAT:

1. The direct award of a contract for data centre, wide areas network and cloud services to 6dg for the total contract value of £2,081,772 for a term of seven years be approved.
2. Authority be delegated to the Strategic Director of Resources with responsibility for ICT, in consultation with the Corporate Portfolio Holder, to finalise and agree the final draft of the contract.

Reason for decision: The current contract for data centre, wide area network and cloud infrastructure services, comes to an end on the 31 August 2025.

The award of a new contract is necessary to maintain the Council’s IT infrastructure, network, backup, systems and applications.

The level of expenditure on this contract exceeds the authority threshold in the scheme of delegation and hence requires Cabinet approval.

The report of the Strategic Director of Place

Presented by the Business and Regeneration Portfolio Holder

The Housing, Property and Customer Services Portfolio Holder presented the report.

The Chair said that the Moira Furnace was an important building and it was important that the Council did not let it deteriorate.

It was moved by Councillor A Woodman, seconded by Councillor T Gillard, and

RESOLVED THAT:

1. The decision to proceed with repair works to Moira Furnace at a contract value of £490,000 be approved.
2. An additional £160,000 be allocated from the Business Rates Reserve to meet the tendered cost of the works, which will be reflected in the Development Programme of the Capital Programme.
3. Authority be delegated to the Strategic Director for Place in consultation with the Business and Regeneration Portfolio Holder to:

A)    Agree the terms of the construction contract within the revised budget.

B)    Complete such other agreements as shall be necessary to implement the project, within the approved budget

Reason for decision: Decisions to award contracts of the value set out in this report are a matter for Cabinet.

Decisions to allocate funding from the Business Rates Reserve at the scale requested in this report are a matter for Cabinet.

The report of the Strategic Director of Place

Presented by the Business and Regeneration Portfolio Holder

The Business and Regeneration Portfolio Holder presented the report.

Members welcomed the sensible proposal to address health and safety issue at the playgrounds.

It was moved by Councillor T Gillard, seconded by Councillor M Wyatt, and

RESOLVED THAT:

1. The minutes of the Coalville Special Expenses Working Party at Appendix 1 be noted.
2. The recommendation of the Coalville Special Expenses Working Party, detailed at section 3.3 within the report, be approved.

Reason for decision: So that the decisions of the Coalville Special Expenses Working Party can be considered.

The officers consider that the press and public should be excluded during consideration of the following items in accordance with Section 100(a) of the Local Government Act 1972 as publicity would be likely to result in disclosure of exempt or confidential information.  Members are reminded that they must have regard to the public interest test and must consider, for each item, whether the public interest in maintaining the exemption from disclosure outweighs the public interest in making the item available.

It was moved by Councillor R Blunt, seconded by Councillor T Gillard, and

RESOLVED THAT:

In pursuance of Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting on the grounds that the business to be transacted involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act and that the public interest in maintaining this exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Reason for decision: To enable the consideration of exempt information.

The report of the Strategic Director of Communities

Presented by the Communities and Climate Change Portfolio Holder

The Communities and Climate Change Portfolio Holder presented the report.

It was moved by Councillor M Wyatt, seconded by Councillor T Saffell, and

RESOLVED THAT:

The recommendations contained within the report be approved.

Reason for decision: To comply with the Council’s contracts procedures, a contract that is valued at more than £250,000 in total is a financial key decision requiring Cabinet approval.

To comply with EU Contract Procedure Rules (which the UK is still subject to), the Council is required to follow these rules.

The report of the Strategic Director of Place

Presented by the Housing, Property and Customer Services Portfolio Holder

The Housing, Property and Customer Services Portfolio Holder presented the report.

A brief discussion was had.

It was moved by Councillor A Woodman, seconded by Councillor R Blunt, and

RESOLVED THAT: The recommendations contained within the report be approved.

Reason for decision: Decisions to purchase property are a function of Cabinet. Section G Officers Scheme of Delegation paragraph 8 applies.